SCHOOL STAFFERS HELP SAVE GIRL’S LIFE

While focused on saving the girl, school staff members had the presence of mind to shield other students from what could be a traumatic sight. Teachers ushered children away while librarian Pam Crumb and art teacher Amy Miller held a blanket and room divider to give privacy to the adults helping the girl.

Paramedic Dan Beebe, a training coordinator with Project Heartbeat, said the for-profit company manages 8,000 AEDs in locations throughout the county, including in 22 school districts.

The Hope Elementary School student was the youngest of the 107 people who have been saved by the devices in the past 10 years, he said.

The incident was especially meaningful to Kim Blaylock, who retired from the Carlsbad Fire Department seven years ago.

Blaylock’s daughter, Kendra Rose Blaylock, was a student in the Carlsbad district when she died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2001.

After attending a fundraiser to pay for AEDs for a Washington school district where another student had died, Blaylock said he and his wife, Michele, decided to organize fundraisers for Carlsbad.

He learned about the Tuesday incident from old buddies in the fire department who knew of his connection to the AEDs.

“I basically said, ‘I love it,’ Blaylock said he replied to his friends.

“To save a girl’s life, what a beautiful gift to give to a family at Christmas,” he said.